Through an ingenious combination of original poetry by Silva-Dunbar, set like jewels in a crown alongside erasure, found, and remixed writing, Allison is a book not to be trifled with-an eagle-eyed, nuanced, and honest exploration of the real-life character of Allison Mack. Silva-Dunbar's powerful treatment of Mack's lived experience-from her charmed beginning to her eventual conviction-courts readers through the psychological labyrinth constructed by fallen NXIVM leader Keith Raniere. At times shattering, at other times hopeful and restorative, Silva-Dunbar's Allison guides us through this terrifying house of mirrors-shows us the subtle horrors of manipulation, coercion, perfectionism-the grisly demons that can grow in the margins of our consciousness and take over our entire existence. Allison is a must-read not only for those who grew up idolizing the bright, talented actor Allison Mack (and who might still be struggling to come to terms with what happened to her), but also for people who have condemned her, for anyone who is curious about the arabesque-like revolutions of the human mind. Allison reminds us what we can become by losing ourselves-and how close we can be to committing atrocities at any time-but Allison also asks readers to consider what we can become if we allow ourselves to heal and redefine our souls. Above all, this book humanizes with vivid, searching prose that most essential experience of living through darkness and, finally, emerging into the light.
-A.E. Copenhaver, author of My Days of Dark Green Euphoria, winner of the Siskiyou Prize for New Environmental Literature
